Sanitary covering for seats



Sept. 30, 1924. 1,509,868

T. P. HARRISON v SANITARY covsnrue FORSEATS Filed Feb. 14. 1923 l Q a 2 AZ a ttozmq I anddispensmg aging.

moms r.

PATENT orr cn.

-= 1a, or gunmen, NOB-TH cAnoLmn.

SANITARY COVERING 1'03 BEATS.

Application am February 14, ms. Serial Io. 018,959.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS P. Hanmson, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Raleigh, in. the county of Wake and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Coverings for Seats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved type of sanitary toilet seat cover an to the etails of the method of making the same.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a seat cover which will have substantial broad flaps front and rear to in holding the cover in position on a seat and also serve to protect the user from contact withthe seat and the front and back portions of the bowl. p

Another object of the invention is to provide a-folded cover suitable for packaging One of the eatures of this invention pertains to the method of first folding the cover material and then cutting the folded article in such a way as to provide the complete cover in its folded shape and thus render unnecessary any unfolding or refolding before pack The above and additional features are described and claimed in the following specification and claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in'which:

Fig. 1 represen a lan view of one of the sheets of'paper or other suitable flexible mab terial from which the seat cover is to be formed;

Fig. 2 is a view of the sheet illustrated in Fig. -1 folded on itself along the line A-A of Fig. 1;

Fi 3 is a view of'the sheet illustrated in Fig. 2' refolded on itself along the line B--B of Fig. 2;

lan view of the article shown 4 is a in ig. 3- .in icating with dotted lines the portions to be. cut;

Fig. 5 represents the artlcle shown in Fig.

4, but with the corner portion removed and indicating the curve line of the cut extending upward and toward the right band edge but Fig. 6 is a plan View! of fife sheet illustrated in Fig. 5 in its unfolded position illustrating the two broad flaps at either end of the incomplete oval, which oval is formed by the curved cuts of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the sheet soft material whichhas sufiicient strengt to serve as a cover for toilet seats, and which preferably is composed of material which will soften or disolve readily under the influence of the water of the toilet connection.

This particular solubility for the material of the paper cover is im rtant. because the most convenient meth of disposing of used seat covers is to drop them into the toilet of the vseat on which they have been used.

constructed with a The article of this present invention is 'ar shape to provide for the following advantage: Seat covers a are recognized as a sanitary necessity. The particular one of this invention, by having broad flaps positioned to ban one at the front and one at the back of t e cover, and thus to depend into the closet bowl, provides means for preventing the cover from slipping ofi the toilet seat, and also means for preventing the cover from twistingaround on the seat due to the fact that the flaps are positioned at the ends of the longest dimen-- sion of the opening in the cover.. 'In additipn an important advantage is derivedfrom t e ens out immediately from its point of support to provide a very broad protecting surface both front and rear, thus effectively guarding the user against contact with the r at or with the parts of the bowl therebe- .neath. One other advantage due to .the

width of the depending flap is that of reducing to a minimum the s lashing of water when the bowl may be ticular broadened flap is illustrated in Fi 6 and 7 as struck from! the maternal of the sheet and extending substantially the full width of the opening when the flap and sheet lie in the same plane;

The method of preparing the particular seat "cover will now be described A sheet of the desired paper or other suitable flexible material, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is folded on itself, preferably along a middle line as from A'A in Fig. 1 thus forming. the article illustrated in ig. 2. Thence the sheet thus folded once is folded for a second time along a line perpendicular to the first articular shape by which the flap ushed. This parhand edge of the article shown in Fig. 3 it is apparent that the edge is entirely closed. The method requires that a portion of the folded sheet of Figs. 3 and 4 be cut away along one of the edges adjacent to the corner edges meeting at'the corner 2 from a point onone edge slightly removed from the immediate corner 2 for a distance one-half the short dimension of the opening which is to be formed. This line of out preferably follows parallel to the edge to provide the line of severance indicated at 3 in Fig. 4. In this same figure, the distance from 2 to 4 indicates one-half the width of the opening as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. Next a line is cut on a curve inwardly from the stopping point of the first cut as from 4,

and back toward the same edge from whence the original cut was begun, the out being terminated at 5 just short of the edge so as toleave a strip of material at the edge portion. This cut from 4 to 5 thus constitutes a short quarter of the entire curve of the opening. Preferably also, the curve from 4 to 5 should be in the nature of a portion of the curve of an ellipse in order to conform to the configuration of the usual toilet seat. In Fig. 5 the folded material is shown with the corner strip removed and with the cut completed for the distance from 4 to 5.

In Fig. 6 the completely out cover is shown in plan view in its unfolded position with the flaps lying in the plane of the continuous strip of the cover portion. The flap is indicated at 6 as joined to the main portion of the seat cover'with a hinge portion 7 which is relatively narrow as compared to the other portions of the flap. The curved side edges of the flap extend from 4 to 5, thus corresponding to the curve 4-5 in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The lower edge of the flap farthest removed from the hinge portion 7 is indicated from 4 to 4. The margin of the opening in the seat cover as illus trated in Fig. 7 passes through the points indicated by the hinge portions 7 and through the points 5-5 at both ends of the opening.

In the manufacture of the article in accordance with the foregoing method satisfactory dimensions roviding for a sufficiently strong hingtf are 2 inches across the width of the hinge 7. This may be determined by terminating the cut from 4 to 5 at 1 inch from the adjacent edge, thus providing twice this distance for the width of the hinge. The width of the strip cut oil from 2 to 4 along the line 3 may be as little as 4 inch, which may be judged as inch from the corner 2. The line of cut 3 is preferably along the open edge, which is the lower edge of the article illustrated in Fig. 3, or in other words through the two folds of two plies each. However, the cut might extend upwardly from the lower edge and the correspondin curve from 4 to 5 would then extend fi'om the right hand margin in an incomplete one-quarter curve back toward the lower edge. If desirable the cut from 4 to 5 may be merely perforations or scoring as contrasted to a complete severance, and this may be desirable in order to make the adjacent marginal edges along the line 4 to 5.remain in the same plane, so

that the folded seat covers may be conveniently packed and conveniently dispensed. If the flaps are entirely severed along the line 4 to 5 they may project upward from the plane of the adjacent edges of the seat cover portion and possibly prevent ready removal for dispensing. If the edges are perforated the article is laid as shown in Fig. 6 on the seat to be covered and a slight blow on the top of the flaps is sufficient to disengage the flaps along the perforated lines so that they assume the position indicated in Fig. 7.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a seat cover from a sheet of material which method comprises folding the sheet on itself alon one dimension, folding the resultant olded sheet on itself on a line at right angles to the line of said first fold, thus providing a corner having the adjacent marginal edges extending in one direction with a closed four-ply fold and in the other direction with two separate closed folds each of two-ply, removing a strip of the folded material from a point on one edge adjacent said corner and part way only along the length of the adjacent edge and thus providing one edge portion open to a1. of the plies thereof, and cutting all of the plies of said folded sheet inwardly from a point along said open portion in a curved line toward said adjacent edge and terminating the cut short of said closed four-ply fold.

2. The method of forming from a, sheet of flexible material a seat cover having an opening and front and back protecting [laps conforming to the shape thereof, which method comprises folding the sheet on itself along one dimension, folding the resultant folded sheet on itself on a line at right angles to the line of said first fold, thus providing a corner having adjacent marginal edges closed to the inner surface of said sheet, removing a strip of the folded material from a point on one edge adjacent said corner and along the adjacent edge for a distance one-half the prescribed distance across the opening and at=right angles to said flaps, and thence cutting through the four plies of the folded sheet on an 1ncomplete quarter curve toward but short of the adjacent edge from whence the initial cut was made.

3. The method of forming from a sheet of flexible material a seat cover havin opening and front and back protecting aps conformin to the shape of said opening, which method comprises foldin the sheet on itself along one dimension, folding the resultant folded sheet on itself on a line at right angles to the line of said first fold, thus providing a corner having the adjacent edges closed from the inner surface of the folded material, separating all of the plies of said folded sheet along one edge thereof for a distance from said corner to a point s aced from the opposite end of said edge t ence cuttin through the four plies 0 said folded s eet in a curved line toward the line of said second fold and terminating the cut short of said line of said second fold.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

THOMAS P. HARRISON. 

